


Humming up an Old Friend

by KakiTenshi



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Headcannon - Kanan can sing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-10 05:30:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4379129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KakiTenshi/pseuds/KakiTenshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Ezra noticed a pattern between Kanan and his habitual humming, and while he was curious he knew that to give his master some space. Like himself Kanan had a hard life after the temple fell -and much like if someone asked about his time on the streets- it was like a wound just ready to be ripped open. If Kanan didn’t want to talk, that’s fine but it still itched a piece inside of him to want to know.</p><p>Each tune was different, and through the Force Erza felt very syllable of words that he could not hear. The padawan knew that each song stood for and understood the comfort as the waves washed over him.</p><p>The sadder ones were what got to him."</p><p>OR</p><p>Kanan's time as Caleb has always been covered up; expect for when he hums the songs that a friend at the temple used to sing to/with/at him. After Order 66 he believes that his friend is dead and all that he has left of her is her music.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Humming up an Old Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> I wrote most of this before I saw the first episode of season two so this does take place before then. But I think it could still work :D
> 
> This all started when I rewatched the movie Lemonade Mouth and realized that the songs could fit in with the Star Wars universe (kinda) and imagined Kanan rapping Wen's part in Determinate. R&R please

Before Kanan appeared on the Ghost Hera never heard someone hum before. It wasn’t an unpleasant sound, it just caught her off guard to hear the resident bad boy use his vocal chords in such a way. He was making music that she never heard of, and it seemed to be happy. After everything that happened to him how could he be and hum so happy?

It also hit that Hera only really knew two things about Kanan Jarrus: he is a Jedi and he finds her attractive. And while getting to know about her new crew member wasn’t at the top of her list of priorities right now –it was getting a mission that put fuel in the Ghost- she felt bad that she didn’t really make much of an effort.

“Hey Kanan, what song is that? It’s a really nice tune.” She regretted prying the moment the words left her mouth. Kanan’s shoulders tensed, the air around him went icy cold; and if Hera was a Jedi she knew that Kanan was washing out waves of fear.

A few moments passed before the Jedi moved from the broken com link he was trying to fix and out of the cockpit and elsewhere on the ship.

* * *

 

Around a year later was when she heard him humming that song. It was filled with joy and made her want to smile. They had finished a hard job where it was surprising that neither of them got hurt; Chopper had a few dings in him, but they were bearable for the time being no matter what he said. Kanan was glowing in the song, a few nonsense words spilling out here or there and Hera wanted to laugh. But she had learned from the first time she interrupted his humming and decided not to distract him.

Plus it wasn’t like this was the first time he hummed since he went all weird on her. He had other songs he went through as he worked. She would revel in the emotions while flying them through the sky.

It was hours later that she asked about them, hoping that if she asked about it now –hours after the fact and having a year of actually knowing him- that he would respond differently this time.

He shoulders still stiffened before he relaxed and sat down with his caf in his hand. He told her about one of his friends at the temple who mainly wrote songs for the younglings so if anything happened that they would remain calm or be happy about something. He helped her preform them from time to time and because of it he had learned almost all of the songs.

“They remind me of how my life used to be at the temple. The ups and downs, you know?” Hera just smiled in response, because she could understand his sentiments largely but didn’t want to stop him from talking. “She was my best friend and I will probably never see her again.”

From there he went into a story about when they were ten and Master Yoda had set off one of their pranks for another youngling. It was completely his idea straight down to how they would execute it. “As soon as things went south she told me to bail, that she would get less of a punishment than I would. She completely took the fall for me, just like that and they stripped her position in the Initiate Test that year. She was supposed to be the youngest Jedi to ever take it, but she couldn’t because of me.”

Hera just placed her hand on his shoulder, a neutral face staring at him. He didn’t notice, never looked to meet her eyes just leaned into her hand like it held all the answers in the galaxy before starting on another story with the two of them.

It didn’t slip by her that the Jedi never once told her his friend’s name.

* * *

 

A couple of months after _that_ incident he Ghost gained another crew member. Zeb was a Lasat with a major problem with the Empire after the eradication of people from his home planet Lasan.

And his large pointed ears weren’t for show either, they had helped a lot during the mission that they were on. However Hera knew that he was the reason Kanan hadn’t hummed once in past week. He was more guarded than before, like the wall she had finally blasted through rose from the rumble three times stronger. It made Hera frustrated.

After another three weeks they had gotten between rock and a hard place, imps were on every side of them and Hera didn’t even have the time to contact Chopper to get the Ghost here for extraction. Zeb was doing hand to hand combat with a Storm Trooper on her left while Kanan was backing him up using his blaster from behind cover a ways away. That was probably how Kanan had saw the stalactite right before it fell down onto the Lasat’s head, the only problem was that there was no way that he nor Hera could push Zeb out on time or even tell the purple hairy beast of the danger looming over his head. Kanan had did the only thing that he could, which was to fling the man away from the danger that he couldn’t see. Though he wasn’t such a big idiot that did it so that the Troopers were any wiser, but the Lasat knew his own body well.

Zeb took it in stride, ignoring it until they got safely away before even mentioning it. When Kanan told him outright Zeb just nodded stating that the smell that Kanan had didn’t match the lifestyle that he was living. Like the smell of the temple grounds had permeated into his skin, but Zeb had assumed that it was from something on board rather than the loss of something.

Neither of them wanted to know.

After that the dam just broke and the humming started up again. It was softer than usual, probably subconsciously taking into account for the Lasat’s higher earing. Hera found it quite cute.

Three days after that Zeb tried to talk to her about it. He had picked up more nonsense words to the both of them that they _knew_ had to be another language, but neither of them knew what that language was. “It’s probably in a language found in one of the Core Worlds that is where the Jedi are from. We should just leave it alone.” Zeb nodded before leaving to go talk to their fearless leader.

Two weeks after that the humming got louder.

* * *

 

When Sabine joined the crew Kanan didn’t stop the humming, he just made a case in point _not_ to say _any_ words from the song when she was within earshot. Hera was thrown off for a while until she realized that Sabine was too young to know anything about the Jedi and the mysterious music –probably thinking it was from Kanan’s generation- but she might understand the words he was sufficiently hiding from everyone else. It didn’t stop her and Zeb from trying to translate what they _had_ got.

“Are you sure about this?” was her only question before looking through the phonic Basic in front of her and cross referencing it in her data books. “I got nothing. These words could mean just about anything, it could be part of a word for all I know. All I know is that how these words are spoken they are not full words spoken in any language that I know.”

Sabine, fresh out of the academy knew 80% of all the languages spoken in the Outer Rim, so unless it was obscure they could rule the language out. The Mandalorian _did_ also know the more common languages spoken in the Core Worlds, but no language was consistent throughout an entire song.

It was nerve wracking trying to figure what each beautiful melody was trying to say. All four agreed that they would not go down without a fight.

Hera felt like it was a puzzle that was always missing a piece. Kanan never really spoke about his past so these songs were the only _true_ thing that Hera could cling on to and know for certain _that_ Jedi and Kanan’s past existed.

The thing was Kanan never became the wiser.

* * *

 

It had been four years since Kanan had boarded the ship and Hera still hadn’t found the basic words to the songs he was singing. She was beginning to think that there was none to begin with, that Kanan had lied about the whole thing to make some kind of wild goose chase to avoid telling them anything.

Maybe this female friend of his didn’t exist either.

The others didn’t agreed, but they were getting so restless about the topic that they were thinking about throwing in the towel. That was until Ezra joined the crew permanently, they all waited patiently to see how the closet singer would change in his pattern since Sabine’s arrival. The thing was that Kanan never did, he took everyone for a loop by keeping the same pattern.

He changed the pattern by not changing at all.

Kanan also went through his routine with Ezra in two ways, as a crew member and as a Jedi-in-Training. The only other times Kanan _really_ hummed in front of the boy was during his training sessions, it didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the crew -especially Hera who knew that Kanan used to hum while meditating to help him relax.

Ezra also noticed a pattern between Kanan and his habitual humming, and while he was curious he knew that to give his master some space. Like himself Kanan had a hard life after the temple fell -and much like if someone asked about his time on the streets- it was like a wound just ready to be ripped open. If Kanan didn’t want to talk, that’s fine but it still itched a piece inside of him to _want_ to know.

Each tune was different, and through the Force Erza felt very syllable of words that he could not hear. He wasn’t _stupid_ , the sounds coming out of his master’s mouth couldn’t actually be the words (well it could be, but it would defeat the whole purpose of humming them them). The padawan knew that each song stood for and understood the comfort as the waves washed over him.

The sadder ones were what got to him.

There was this one that Kanan hummed every month –a song that did not match him in any way- like a tribute to some past lover. It didn’t sound like his words through the Force as waves of extreme emotional regret and what Ezra thought of as heartbreak flowed through it. As there bond got stronger however, he would see flashes of a woman’s face contorted through piece of the song. Each time his master hummed it, it made Ezra feel like there was no hope as it was shredded from his body.

It concerned the padawan as first, feeling like his master was giving up on some sort of hope –on him mainly- until he saw that young girl’s face. He realized that the woman in Kanan’s past has sung this song to him; that she lost hope on a past lover and his master was trying to pull some piece of her to him. That the song _was_ the essence of her.

It finally made the padawan want to talk to his master about this.

Deciding it was better to do it now rather than later Ezra knocked on the door of Kanan’s cabin. He could feel the waves crashing down on him as the Master sung this month’s round of the ritual song.

The noise on the other side stopped before the Jedi replied behind the door. “Come in.” the boy followed the instruction as Kanan was tending to his lightsaber in his hand. “Ezra, is everything alright?”

Nodding his head, the young Jedi sat down on the lower bunk watching Kanan’s expert hands move to put his saber away before looking at him expectedly. “I just wanted to talk about that song you were just humming.”

He saw his master freeze, a chill wafting through the Force before sitting down next to him. Looking straight into Ezra’s eyes he spoke. “Is there a reason we need too?”

Ezra contemplated the question for a moment. Turned over the Basic words trying to find some hidden meaning in it, when he couldn’t find one he opted for the truth. “I know that these songs are special to you and that you probably don’t want to talk about it, but the one you were doing today just brings a lot through the Force and I keep getting these weird visions through our bond.”

Kanan nodded before settling into his bunk a little more. All the tension that coiled in his body earlier flooded away like a current running through a river. “Well that’s understandable, she did write them all with a great deal of emotion so you would feel some of what I feel bleed through the Force.” The master sighed before dragging Ezra closer to the wall side of the bed. “Your right about my life at the temple –how I don’t want to talk about it- but I promised myself that if you asked these songs with a reason that I would tell you a little bit about my time there.”

“What does those songs have to do with the temple?” the boy was confused, mind wandering uncharted territory with his master.

“A friend that I knew from my time at the temple wrote them. She was my best friend.” The smile on Kanan’s face made the padawan smile –so there were good memories with the bad. “She was always humming something since we were small, it was part of her character. By the time we were both ten she had notebooks filled with lyrics to songs that were supposed to be sung by women and men, it was astounding growing up with her. She would give me these private concerts so she could start preforming in front of a crowd.”

Ezra’s eyes were once again filled with wonder. He never seen Kanan so happy since meeting the man. The only thing that he could compare it to would be the face he gives Hera when they hadn’t seen each other for a while. He wanted to see more of that face. “So is that how you learned them?”

“Actually it was a year after that when we got bad news from the council that she did performances for the younglings. The young ones were scared and the Masters and teachers had no idea what to do. She wrote songs especially for them.” Ezra notices that the Jedi started humming more of a happy tune as he contemplated what to say next. It was the one that the whole crew loved; the upbeat and rhythmic while bring the feeling of hope.

“Is the one your humming now one of them?” Kanan stopped, cocking his brow in question. Ezra took that to mean he didn’t know what he meant and hummed the familiar tune from memory.

“Yeah that is one of them. Anyways she was working on something called harmonies in her songs and since we were good friends she forced me to join her in the concerts. That’s really how I learned them.” Quickly looking at his door for intruders he added. “Maybe I’ll sing you one of them.”

That had Ezra laughing because he knew (and purposely stayed away from) the crew’s obsession with finding the words to the songs.

“So they _are_ still trying to figure it out.” Kanan supplied while Ezra nodded. “At first I was too embarrassed, if Hera asked kept asking I may have caved. Now I just don’t want to give them the satisfaction.”

Ezra laughed harder and Kanan waited for his padawan to settle down before going into stories about him and his friend from the past.

Ezra noticed that the woman remained anonymous the whole time.

During all of this the conspirators were having a meeting of their own. Discussing the little things that had happened for the past two months since Ezra joined. They wanted to drift away from the newly aged fifteen year old boy to a subject that did not leave a sour taste in their mouth.

“Maybe we should get the kid in on this. He might know more about these than all of us.”

The question curtled in Hera’s mind, sure they spend time alone for training but the Twi’lek knew that Kanan wasn’t about sharing anything that had to do with the temple. “Unless it’s something Force related he would know just as much as us.”

“Where is Ezra now? Usually when Kanan is this moody he’s getting food or away from the ship.” Sabine looked over to Chopper who grumbled his words in answering that the human boy was somewhere on the ship. Everyone knew he was smart enough to stay away from Kanan when he was like this.

“We’ll look for him later, just give him some space. Besides I think we need to talk about what’s important here, our little mystery.”

“Hera we are all curious, but nothing fits. It’s like he’s speaking gibberish.” Sabine had went through sixteen new databases that they had found and none of them found a match, they were all at the end of their ropes.

They continued talking until they heard one of the room doors close an hour later. Kanan and Ezra walked by together and off the ramp down onto Lothal. The three thought it was odd, given the song Kanan had been humming earlier but _none_ thought that they were missing the biggest piece of their proclaimed jigsaw puzzle as they walked out.

At most they thought it was for some Jedi training.

However the duo was moving toward the plain that the Loth-cats like to roam around; like they had on Empire Day. Ezra sat down expectantly waiting for his master to start, he did but with some scales up and down in what he later called keys. After his supposed warm up was done he turned to his pupil smiling.

“What song do you want to listen to today?” Kanan looked over immediately hearing his padawan respond in a hum; the same one Ezra used to answer him earlier. “Wise choice. This one is called ‘Turn Up The Music’.”

He started with a rhythmic tapping of his foot, when it enveloped his body Kanan started hummin a couple of bars before letting out his voice with the actual words.

Na na na na na na  
Take a look around  
Who would have thought we’d all be here  
So let’s mess around  
‘Cause the future is unclear  
We just trying to get through  
Can you hear me?  
Can you hear me?

Kanan walked over to where Ezra was sitting, pulling him to his feet and moving him around.

Let the music groove you  
let the melody move you  
Feel the beat and just let go  
feel the rhythm into your soul

Let the music take you  
Anyway we want to  
when were stuck and can’t get free  
No matter what we’ll still be singing

Come on! Come on! Turn up the music  
It’s all we got, we’re gonna use it  
Come on! Come on! Turn up the music  
Yeah

Ezra managed to let go of his master’s grasp before laughing and moving to the beat himself. He let go of everything happening to them and just let the music guide his movements.

All we have is now  
Let’s make the most of it  
Come on break it out  
So everyone can hear it

They don’t have to understand  
But we’ll make them if we can  
Do you hear me?  
Are you with me? Yeah!

Ezra took a glance over at the one singing, where he noticed a dramatic turn and a cut off laugh. The years added up from the Empire faded away making Kanan look closer to his late twenties –as Ezra found out two weeks prior- rather than the mid-thirties he usually sported.

As the song continued he noticed the music changing to the chorus and followed him in the tune.

Let the music groove you  
let the melody move you  
Feel the beat and just let go  
feel the rhythm into your soul

Let the music take you  
Anyway we want to  
when were stuck and can’t get free  
No matter what we’ll still be singing

Come on! Come on! Turn up the music  
It’s all we got, we’re gonna use it  
Come on! Come on! Turn up the music  
Yeah

They both caught they’re breathe as their song faded into the evening air, smiling in accomplishment. As if victory had been won they moved back to the ship in bliss; words were short and they both knew that this would happen again. Probably sooner than either of them thought.

* * *

 

Everything was wrong.

Since Kanan’s humming escapades started, unless everyone was sleeping there was never dead silence aboard the Ghost. The humming always flowed through the air in those rare moments but without their leader the noise was just dead.

Ezra tried to find the notes and glimpses of visions that was embedded into Kanan’s humming. Like it was logical that he would tune out whatever was happening to him with his friend’s music, but it was dead. Silence comparable to that of a radio turned off, Kanan wasn’t singing any sort of tune. With the silence the Force brought an everlasting chill into the boy.

A few days later he started looking for Kanan another way through the Force. Just the feeling of him through the bond of apprentice and master. He felt a connection far away from Lothal but nowhere tangible to the padawan. It was faint like the Jedi was fading away; if they didn’t get to Kanan soon they might never see him again.

That’s why he needed to do something, before he lost the only father he had left. Even if it was insane by their standards; going to Vizago was the only option left and if Hera was going to give up he’ll save his master for her. They had to get those plans, nothing was going to stop them.

Not even Tarkin’s Star Destroyers.

So when he found Kanan strapped to the metal slab groaning and breathing Ezra wanted to shout in joy. There was something off about him though, an invisible piece missing from him. When Ezra figured it out he looked at the human Jedi, brow deep and furrowed questioning everything he knew about Kanan.

It was as if the music had been cut out of him.

The padawan didn’t say anything however; just tried to wait until they reached the Ghost to utter a word. He stopped when the Senator appeared in a holo blue transmission flowing from Chopper.

When Ahsoka stepped down the ladder he saw Kanan’s shoulder stiffen and eyes a little wide like he knew her. It made Ezra stop and study the face of the woman in the vision before deciding they were too different to be the same person. Ahsoka’s words were encouraging, speaking in a way that Kanan only did when teaching him something new in the Force. Taking into account the two metal casing tubes which he assumed were her sabers; Ezra knew this was another Jedi.

* * *

 

They gave Kanan two days to recover physically from his time one the Star Destroyer. The humming was back aboard the Ghost with songs none of them heard before. Ahsoka gave him a weird look every time he did, like trying to place the significance in her memory. The whole crew’s tension finally dissipated as their glue finally stuck them together.

After his two days were up Ahsoka brought him into the common room of the Ghost. The rest of the crew was in the shadows, listening to what their friend had to say.

“I first want to assure you that this is just a formality. I think it wise that everyone knew what the Empire knows about us.” Kanan nodded, awaiting the Tortuga’s questions. “What happened at the moment of capture?”

“The Inquisitor wanted me to meet a ‘friend’ of his; _General_ Tarkin.” He lips tightened as he saw Ahsoka’s face drop at the name. Both knew that Tarkin had been promoted since the Clones Wars, but there were testing each other to see where the other stood. “They brought me aboard his Star Destroyer where they tried to use a mind probe to get the information they wanted.”

“And that information was?”

“At first who I was, Tarkin didn’t believe me to be a Jedi.” There was a pause, the samurai clad Jedi put her hand on his shoulder knowing full well what he meant. “After that they tried to get information on you and other rebel cells.”

“Which you didn’t have.” She knew Kanan wouldn’t have under the droid, but that wasn’t what she was worried about. There was other ways to get information from a Jedi.

“After a while the Inquisitor started using fake visions and pain to get the information out of me.” His muscles twitched at the phantom pain. “I didn’t talk about that they wanted to know, mainly just taunted them.”

“Mainly?”

“After Tarkin left the Inquisitor to his own devices he tried to get other information out of me, more personal information. He even re-scanned me for a more up-to-date file. I know he had suspicions on who I am _or was_ , but he kept prying on the little details.”

Ahsoka felt for him, from the past two days she pretty much knew exactly knew he was as well but she doubted that he was humming in that room. “About your life at the temple and the Order?”

Kanan nodded and swallowed. “Yeah, kept poking around about the death of my Master and her final words to me.” Closing his eyes he replayed the memory in his brain. “She told me-”

Ahsoka raised her hand, already knowing what would have transpired –the bond between master and apprentice broke a lot of the rules that they followed, the master would always find a way to let the apprentice survive in a sticky situation. “Don’t worry about that. But I do have a job for _you_ and your crew.” There was something in her face that made Kanan want to instantly without even knowing want _he_ had to do.

It was like the Force was calling to him and she had what it wanted, so in essence she had won their little challenge. He did realize something throughout it all, she was the one who _supposedly_ bombed the temple before the Order was taken out. The apprentice of Anakin Skywalker who was the apprentice of Master Obiwan Kenobi. Ahsoka stood on higher ground than he ever would, so one mission wouldn’t be the end of the world –even if he was still hurting from the Star Destroyer.

It was Hera that objected -after coming out of her hiding spot- stating that Kanan was in no way ready to be taking on a mission.

“You don’t need to worry about that Hera. The mission I was proposing was to gather one more rebel from what she’s been doing up until now. If I’m right then you’ll know her when you see her Kanan. She leaned in close to his ear and spoke one more word. “Caleb.”

Kanan stiffened at his old name, jerking his head to look into the other Jedi’s eyes. Zeb looked over at him expectantly but his mind was ease when their leader spoke. “Where would we find her?”

* * *

 

It was a world in the Mid Rim, Kanan had been here once when he was a youngling. Master Windu wanted the padawan initiates to get a better look of the galaxy before they underwent their tests. No one else in the crew had been to this planet before, so it was up to Kanan’s foggy memory and knowledge of the language to guide them around.

After talking to three of four people –all speaking the native language of the planet, much to Kanan’s chagrin- they managed to find the cantina. Sabine was still unsettled that she didn’t understand the words but Kanan did when they reached the bar -he didn’t know _any_ other language to Sabine’s knowledge since she was the resident translator.

When they entered the bar it was dark so Zeb guided them to a table off in the corner. They sat down and ordered some drinks for everyone when a pair of lights flooded the far side of the room. A stage had been raised so that even people in the back of the cantina would see everything perfectly.

A sound of music roared through the air like a lightening as a note vibrated throughout the cantina. It was a song that the crew knew well, heard it over a thousand times along with the next combination of notes. What was different was the words she sang with them; it brought a realization to Hera and Ezra that _this_ was Kanan’s friend from the past. Kanan just stared as his friend stood by the mic and calmly riddled her way into everyone’s heart.

Some people call me a space cowboy  
Some people call me the gangster of love  
Some people call me Maurice  
Cause I speak of the pompitous of love

People talk about me, baby  
Say I’m doing you wrong, doin’ you wrong  
Well, don’t worry baby  
Don’t worry  
Cause I’m right here, right here, right here at home

Hera sat back as she listened to one of the songs she grown to love by someone she never knew. She was right about the words being beautiful, it matched both the song and its muse. She took a quick look over at Kanan, and if the music didn’t convince her this was the male’s friend than his face did. His eyes were closed as he relaxed the most she’d ever see him. It shed years off his face -to a time where Hera wondered put him at his years in the temple- as he leaned fully on the chair he was sitting on. His foot lightly tapped in time to the beat as he vibrated to the sound of the song. Hera knew he was singing to the music quietly.

Ezra just absorbed himself in the complete version of a song he knew very well. His master had sung this one to him the night before he got captured. The boy had it memorized, but the way the chords in the back complemented the melody and strung beat in the back changed the song. It turned and picked up at different places, the new voice giving a different plea from Kanan.

_Help me find him._

And it was as if she knew that he would be like this now after all these years. Was Kanan like this before the Order too? Was it possible that Kanan would sing about who he was? It was more likely to the boy that his master just made himself into the person in the song and his friend knew he would.

Cause I’m a picker  
I’m a grinner  
And I’m a lover  
And I’m a sinner  
I play music in the sun

Cause I’m a joker  
I’m a smoker  
I’m a midnight toker  
I sure don’t want to hurt no one

Cause I’m a picker  
I’m a grinner  
And I’m a lover  
And I’m a sinner  
I play music in the sun

Cause I’m a joker  
I’m a smoker  
I’m a midnight toker  
I get my lovin’ on the run.

Zeb and Sabine’s jaws were dropped at this part. They had always figured there fearless leader wrote the tunes they loved. But here they were, a song that they only recognized for said leader’s humming’s were being used in an open setting.

Hera just glanced at the two, nodding at their inner turmoil. She didn’t know how to tell them; it wasn’t hers to tell.

You’re the cutest thing  
That I ever did see  
I really have your peaches  
Want to shake your tree  
Lovey-dovey, Lovey-dovey, Lovey-dovey all the time  
Oee- baby I’ll show you a good time

The singer looked through the crowd at the time, winking at different people in the crowd. Her eyes met Zeb’s, an inconspicuous wave coming with facial expression. All she had to do was move her gaze an inch, but she stopped –moving fluidly into the next pre-set movements of her performance.

Her hips grinded to the beat, sexual but innocent to match the character being portrayed. The Lasat and padawan looked on hypnotized at the motion –like most of the male population- while Kanan laughed. His friend didn’t seem to change that much in the past 15 years. She was still the same bundle of everlasting joy.

Cause I’m a picker  
I’m a grinner  
And I’m a lover  
And I’m a sinner  
I play music in the sun

Cause I’m a joker  
I’m a smoker  
I’m a midnight toker  
I sure don’t want to hurt no one

Cause I’m a picker  
I’m a grinner  
And I’m a lover  
And I’m a sinner  
I play music in the sun

Cause I’m a joker  
I’m a smoker  
I’m a midnight toker  
I get my lovin’ on the run.

The woman’s eyes flickered to the back table, and the Jedis noticed her eyes widen for that split second before moving her hand behind her back. Hera notice and braced the enviable guard but one didn’t show, like the motion meant something else.

And it did.

Those on the instruments motioned a change, moving things around when the music let them.

People keep talking about me baby  
They say I’m doin’ you wrong  
Well don’t you worry, don’t worry, no don’t worry mama  
Cause I’m right here at home

You’re the cutest thing I ever did see  
Really love your peaches want to shake your tree  
Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey all the time  
Come on baby and I’ll show you a good time.

The notes faded and a roar of cheers filled the room as more lights flooded in. The singer grabbed another sound amplifier, this one being short with a receiver at the base.

“Hey guys, I have a very special treat for you today!” The crowd roared again, regulars raising their drinks as a few stumbled back to their chairs. “I have a new song I’d like you guys to listen to, tell me what you think.” She looked over to the back of the room before looking at the other musicians that stood behind her. Some talk happened before the first note hit the air.

Wouldn’t want to be anybody else  
Yeah

You made me insecure  
Told me I wasn’t good enough  
But who are you to judge  
When you’re a diamond in the rough  
I’m sure you’ve got some things  
You’d like to change about yourself  
But when it comes to me  
I wouldn’t want to me anybody else

I’m no beauty queen  
I’m just beautiful me  
You’ve got every right  
To a beautiful life

Jumping off the stage, the woman bolted to the back where the crew was sitting. She started by cupping Kanan’s face –and from their distance noticed she was analyzing his face- before stroking his cheek and moving to the padawan. Ezra stiffened, her energy rubbing against his own. He didn’t need to worry because she moved straight over to the Twi’lek leaning against her. Hera pushed her off gently so she wouldn’t fall on the floor as the woman turned to the Lasat who growled at her. Finally she turned back towards her audience and encasing them into a roar she continued on.

Who says  
Who says you’re not perfect  
Who says you’re not worth it  
Who says you’re the only one that’s hurtin’

Trust me  
That’s the price of beauty  
Who says you’re pretty  
Who says you’re not beautiful  
Who says

She began to run around the room, going to almost every table before resting at the crew’s again. Taken in by Sabine, but not one to refuse a challenge she turned back to the Lasat and began the next verse.

It’s such a funny thing  
How nothing funny when it’s you  
You tell me what you mean  
But they keep whiting out the truth

It’s like a work of art  
That never gets to see the light  
Keep you beneath the stars  
Won’t let you touch the sky

I’m not beauty queen.  
I’m just beautiful me  
You’ve got every right  
To a beautiful life  
Come on.

Locking eyes with the furry alien, a rush of emotion flowed through the song and the Force. It had Ezra looking on wondering if the two knew each other, Kanan was horrendously failing to stop the bark of laughter.

To play the audience you got to know on your audience

Kanan’s friend knew how to play her audience quite well.

She leaned on both the females next, making them both look to the ceiling on stars. She jumped on the table then –the only one in the whole cantina that wasn’t covered in mugs from past drinks- focusing on the whole crowd rather than them.

Who says  
Who says you’re not perfect  
Who says you’re not worth it  
Who says you’re the only one that’s hurtin’

Trust me  
That’s the price of beauty  
Who says you’re pretty  
Who says you’re not beautiful  
Who says

Who says you’re not star potential?  
Who says you’re not presidential?  
Who says you can’t be in holos?  
Listen to me, listen to me  
Who says you don’t pass the test?  
Who says you can’t be the best?  
Who said, who said?  
Would you tell me who said that?  
Yeah, who said?

Who says you’re not perfect  
Who says you’re not worth it  
Who says you’re the only one that’s hurtin’

Trust me  
That’s the price of beauty  
Who says you’re pretty  
Who says you’re not beautiful  
Who says

She finished on top of the table, jumping off like it was nothing and well-rehearsed –which it probably was- grabbing onto Kanan as a pretend support. The Jedi felt a movement on his clothes as she walked away like nothing happened, and to her it may not have been anything. She was clearly still on her high.

The man waited until his old friend was back on stage before moving the strap on his shoulder armour. In between the strap and the shirt was a piece of paper with an encoded message Kanan was stuck on.

After a song and a half he managed to find the pattern behind the words. “Sabine, can you translate each individual word into Basic?” she took the note and nodded, confusion riddling her features as she grabbed the pen from his grasp. She only took another song before returning the paper with the words translated. On the page was a mess of letters he knew would there.

He changed it to a more phonic based understanding into a language that only the two of them would know.

_“Just say your name Jack Rabbit.”_

A memory of them sitting under the stars on a world close to Coruscant crossed his mind. It was where they first starting talking to each other, and later where they gave each other nicknames Jack Rabbit and Tree Monkey respectively. He remembered how her face fell from that bright smile to a somber one looking at herself through her reflection on the river. There with the sound of flowing water did they tell the other all of their secrets.

The Jedi shook his head and stood, the crew followed in a stagger. There was a reason that she gave them a cryptic message, and Kanan had a feeling it had to do with the guard on the side by the stage. Hera was the one who initiated the talk, where they got a standard answer of “Authorized personnel only”. That was when Ezra saw his master take a deep breathe and utter two words.

“Caleb Dume.”

The guard was taken aback before calling someone over. It was a Mandalorian, who quickly looked Sabine over before ushering them behind the door and into another room. Filled with boxes from ceiling to floor on the far side of the room from the door, the crew got curious about the open one closest to them. It was full of books, books that Ezra thought Kanan talked about before. He reached out before getting his hand slapped away by Hera.

The boxed distracted the crew long enough for the cantina’s Mandalorian to give Kanan another message. This was encrypted, but in an uncommon language for the area. “ _Grab my lightsabers from the locked drawer.”_ Quickly taking a look over to the crew, Kanan looked for the desire drawer.

Ezra knocked into it, Force unlocking it without question. Sabine was the first to move the padawan out of the way. Even so, Kanan slapped Sabine’s hands away from the drawer before grabbing the sabers and hooking them to his belt.

Hera placed a gentle hand on Sabine’s shoulder before asking the question everyone wanted answers too. “Okay, so who is she?”

The question didn’t say the important piece of “and why is she here?” but Kanan mentally pointed out that Hera knew very well.

“She’s an old friend from the temple, we grew up together.” A smile pierced his face, “She wrote all of those songs, and there in Basic.” A groan from the three conspirators made the Force sensitive duo laugh. When Kanan finally calmed down he spoke once again, “Her name is Yan-”

Kanan was tackled then with a large squeal of “JACK RABBIT! Accompanying it.  The Jedi stood his ground, managing to stay vertical.

“How many time do I have to tell to stop calling me that Yandura?” Kanan unlatched her arms and turned to face her.

It was then that Hera really took her in, on stage the light ruined her visual of the woman. Her hair was long and placed into a twisted braid that went down her right shoulder and planted on her breast. It was as black as her eyes; so dark that it matched that of an abyss and they seemed to be just as deep. She came up to Kanan’s shoulder, body stature seemingly the same. However different than Kanan was her clothing – she was also wearing different clothes that when she was preforming- a tight shirt from her waist up to her shoulders, two extra loose sleeves coming across her arm. She wore a high waisted skirt that was different than Ahsoka’s, it was made with a seemingly thin material that flowed with each of her movements. It also was longer in the back reaching up to her knee while the front went to her mid-thigh and showed more of her white tights underneath.

“Maybe when you stop calling me by _that_ name my good sir!” She pushed past her friend and towards the rest of the crew. “Hello, my name is Yandura Kajora, but please call me Akina or Aki.” She bowed, eyes gazing into Hera’s eyes. “Thank you for taking care of my friend.”

“Kanan is our friend, so no thanks needed.” Hera smiled at the woman.

Akin looked over at Kanan skeptically, “Kanan would you mind handing me my sabers? The lightstaff isn’t in the best condition, it’s been known to activate whenever. I’ve been meaning to fix it.”

The other Jedi nodded as he followed her back to the shelf and grabbed her gloves. Glowing from the overhang light, Aki put them and _strapped_ the fingers in place. Kanan handed them both gracefully, the shorter one latching onto her back while the other was strapped her side. “Do you want help putting on the rest of your outfit?” Kanan eyed her, she only laughed and swatted him away.

“Not from your lecherous hands,” she pointed over to the padawan. “You can help me though.” Ezra took a step forward, strapping the piece of armour to her shoulder, leg and waist. “Thanks.” She looked back over at Kanan who snapped in realization.

“Sorry, this is my padawan Ezra.” He pointed to the rest in order “And those are Sabine, Hera and Zeb.”

“Hello again,” she sat down on one of the more sturdier boxes. “What can I do for you guys today?” Facing her friend again. “Not that this isn’t great.”

“Ahsoka wants you back.” Hera replied, which had the Jedi wince at the reply he knew was coming.

“I never knew we were in that type of relationship. Tell her I’m sorry but I’m not interested?”

Sabine and Zeb laughed before the furrier one replied. “No, she got us to bring you back to the rebellion.”

That got a laugh out of the female human, which took the whole crew by surprised. “Well, well the Commander is trying to tell the General what to do? That’s unsightly.”

“Akina, these aren’t the Clone Wars. Plus you’d both be commanders.” The words slipped out before he could stop them, there was something different about Akina than before.

She replied to his statement by moving her braid out of the way to reveal a bald spot. To everyone but Hera it looked unnatural. However Kanan was the only one who understood what she was going for by the motion. “Happened a week before the Order.” Her smile was proud, but it gave Kanan the final piece to why he thought why she was dead and how she couldn’t be.

Kanan thought she was a _padawan_.

He was the _last padawan_ of the old order.

It didn’t mean that he actually was the last Jedi out there, but someone who hadn’t completed their training.

“Congratulations.” Was the only thing he could think to say.

“I’ll take that with a grain of salt.” She started humming, a song that _none_ of them knew but could all feel. Somewhere deep in those notes was hope but utter sadness.

Kanan and Ezra felt more through the Force, a jolt of what each of the real words meant. The elder saw a child’s face, deep with sleep in a flowerbed covered in blood. He imagined Ezra in that situation due to the war, he often thought about what would have happened if they didn’t pick Ezra up. It he kept the lightsaber he stole.

“That’s pretty, do you mind singing it to us?” Hera was the brave one out of the conspirators, hoping that she was different than Kanan.

The woman just blinked before nodding and starting again. At first it was in a language that none of them knew before she shook her head and started once more.

Beneath the veil of starry sky  
As cold as winter’s darkest night  
It’s there you sleep, silent and deep  
Your all alone

I sing the prayer’s soft melody  
Across the lonely silent fields  
A little light began to shine  
It shines on and on.

Sabine looked over at the window to the starry sky. Images of her past flashed before her, stopping at her mother cradling her in her arms.

Zeb didn’t know what to feel, emotions he couldn’t name flooded him.

Hera just remembered the last words she heard from her father’s lips.

I watched you as you so peacefully dreamed  
You laughed like a child  
Happy and carefree  
It’s so familiar and yet so far,  
That’s the future’s promise for you and me

One day on a green and shining morn’  
One day we will finally make it through  
Cause in this sky  
So dark with winter,  
We still have to believe it’s true  
Fields of Hope.

She stopped, looking at Kanan and Ezra; who tried to look blankly. “The rest of the song isn’t very nice, so I’ll just stop there.”

“No!” Zeb was surprisingly the one that jumped, trying to continue the song. “Please we want to hear the whole thing.” The woman sighed but continued.

A gentle touch  
A loving brush  
Those things I still search for  
A prayer in a melody  
It goes on and on

I sing the prayer’s soft melody  
One vanished one dies  
And all in all  
It starts again  
A never ending cycle

One day on a green and shining morn’  
Through all the long nights we’ve been fighting for  
There lies a place  
Far from disgrace  
Where we won’t have to hide  
From the world again

Now there lies a deep love within my heart  
A yearn to protect you and keep you warm  
It’s so familiar and yet so far  
It’s made for the peace of mind.  
Fields of Hope.

The note faded away, imagery wisping away in memory that they try not to remember. A tear wondered down Aki’s face and surprising everyone Zeb walked over to wipe the tear away. Kanan gave her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes before nodding.

“Ahsoka wants me back?” the question rang out as Kanan silently answered. “Does she know-?”

Kanan cut her off with his hand. “I think she figured it would be easier for me to wrangle you in then her.” The words seem to confirm whatever she was about to say as she laughed wholeheartedly.

It was Ezra that spoke next, but somehow he felt like he was speaking out of turn. “Are you coming with us? His voice was vulnerable, cracking at the seams.

Aki contemplated for a moment, looking down at her feet. It worried the crew, like she was actually thinking about the situation.

“On one condition.” She finally said, looking Sabine straight in the eyes. “I get to room with you.”

The Mandorlian smiled, eyes trying to be as innocent as possible. There was a reason why no one bunked with her. The rest of the crew froze before Hera finally held her hand out.

“You can have the spare room, welcome aboard.”

The hand was shaken, powerful fingers gripping the Twi’lek’s small ones. “No thank you, I really want to room with her. I’m sure when Ahsoka comes around to join the crew she’ll appreciate it though.”

No one questioned the sentence, just watched as she collected her things before leaving.

It wasn’t until they reached the ship that anyone even realized what she had said. Zeb turned them over in his head before jerking his furry head towards the new member. He trusted her –a friend of Kanan’s was a friend of the crew- but he couldn’t figure her out.

“What do you mean ‘when Ahsoka comes around’?” His voice was direct, confusion filtering in. “She isn’t a part of this crew.”

A laugh spurred from her lips at that moment before turning to the other Jedi in the room. “Have neither of you had a vision since joining this crew?” Kanan looked at the boy before nodding at the question. “Then why does it seem weird that I said that?” She turned back to the purple fur of a creature.

Zeb just stared wide eyed at the woman, mouth unable to move. Luckily Sabine had his back and started up a new line of conversation. “After what happened with Ezra’s vision, I’d like to hear about the one you saw.”

The woman just shrugged, moving a box to one corner next to Sabine’s paint. “It wasn’t really a big deal. I just saw me and Kanan talking, a flash of a face I knew a long time ago and me talking to Ahsoka aboard a ship I’ve never seen before. Sorry for assuming it was yours before coming aboard.”

“It wasn’t?” It was Zeb’s voice that came out, though everyone was thinking the same thing.

She turned, holding a bunch of hide bound books. “It was, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t make an ass out of myself for assuming it was.” She walked over where she would be sleeping –she and Sabine already talked about who got what bunk- and placed down the books in question down.

“What about the face you remembered from your past?” Hera voiced. Kanan whipped his head at the question towards his partner but Aki just sighed.

“He’s long since dead.” Kanan just nodded before shooing everyone but Sabine out of the room to get the rest of Akina’s things.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is suppose to be a one shot but if people want to see more I might be able to continue this with how I ended it. Just send me a PM or comment below and I'll decided that way.
> 
> For those who want to know the songs that I used they are as follows:  
> Turn up the Music - Lemonade Mouth  
> I'm a Joker - The Steve Miller Band  
> Who Says - Selena Gomez  
> Fields of Hope - Rei Tanaka (from Gundam SEED)


End file.
